SCC, Torture & Pain, The Why...

Dear Supreme Court of Canada Justices,

James vs York University Docket Number (#36795).

Torture and Pain

On the Richter Scale of painful/torturous distress what environmental stimulus/action is the most painful for Paul J James?

Order the following on a scale from 1-10 with 1 being the most painful and 10 being the least of the most painful!

Sleep Deprivation? Homelessness? Unemployment? Substance Use? Uncertainty? Humiliation? Starvation? Isolation? Loss of Career? Stigmatization (punishment, scapegoating, ignoring, bullying, patronizing, treatment as worthless).

How do you expect to improve the system and negative circumstances which encompass the dreadful stigma associated with substance dependence and mental health in general with specific consideration of how the PJJ matter has been dealt with?

It is not through decriminalization first. All substances are already defacto decriminalized. Nor is it through consensus education. That comes later. So does a national stigma strategy, something recommended/demanded back in 2004 through the Honorable Michael Kirby. The complacency and incompetence of Canadian politicians and Canadian institutions to not follow through is culpable for the colossal damage which Canadian society is now suffering - largely oblivious to the masses. The HRTO adjudicator back in 2012 to not consider Stigma in the James vs York University claim as a devastating social intersecting factor was absurdly irresponsible.

Canada has 35,000 homeless for a reason. 11 over dose deaths a day for a reason. Increased suicide rates up from 9 a day to 11 a day. For a reason. It does not simply happen over night. There is a reason the Paul J James matter has been dealt with in the way it has. And it is not a good reason.

Can you not see the complete Madness and Cruelty now a decade on to still be ignoring the matter? The madness to expect a social movement of the most stigmatized social health phenomena of all. The nonsensical, illogical and irresponsible expectation.

You should Know

You should be reminded in the year 2020. There is no amount of monetary compensation, national apology or any other concession which will permit Paul J James to remain in Canada. I will leave within the next week and will never ever return. I will starve myself elsewhere. If you do not understand the reasons for the remark and decision then you have not completed your due diligence on the the life of Paul J James most specifically from 2008-2019. Reading the articles and submissions contained within the Confronting the Stigma of Drug Addiction website will assist you. So will reading the submissions to the Canadian Judiciary with regard to the James vs York University and James vs the Mooredale Soccer Club human rights claims. So will doing your due diligence on Tess Sheldon, Jonathan Odumeru, Toby Young, Brenda Culbert, Malcolm Mercer and so many others. In simple context my life and ability to live freely has been obliterated. I feel psychologically raped and physically sodomized by what has taken place. Used as a pawn. Scapegoated time and again as a worthless human being. Abused of any human right as it pertains to Equality of Opportunity. Abused as a person in general.

Canada

Canada are not an honorable, moral country. York University, the Canadian Judiciary, the Liberal government of Canada, the Canadian media, Bob Rae, Adam Vaughan, Mary Ormsby et al, etc have been reckless and psychopathic in their delivery of the social injustices which have engulfed the life of Paul J James. Injustices which should have been resolved many years ago. The depravity surrounding the scapegoating and stigmatization of PJJ instead, will live on as acts of unadulterated evil. And you nor they can ever reel them back in.

Proud to have been Associated with Carmine Isacco and Michael Bourassa

Confronting the Stigma of Drug Addiction. CTSODA was, in part, set-up to challenge persons, organizations based on facts, truths, and evidence. It can be a very harsh methodology. If it needs to be harsh it is because it needs to be harsh. On the Richter scale of severity however, any challenges, realities, labeling and directness towards others is a mere spec in the ocean compared to what has been delivered the other way. Hard to compete with being labelled a Crack Head. Being discriminated against with no legal redress to change the circumstance. Having people such as the Liberal Party, people at York University and Bob Rae holding the issue over your head like a machete.

The CTSODA approach is an antidote for the pejorative labels and such corrupt immorality. A "bite back" from being ostracized, patronized, scapegoated, bullied, labelled and oppressed including mercilessly throughout the Canadian Judiciary. Shock treatment for the stigmatized behavior of others.

Any other approach would be like poking the cement wall of stigma with a tooth pic.

Six weeks ago it was time to confront Carmine Isacco the current master soccer coach of York University. It was challenging to do so because it needed to be challenging. Once I had departed York University, Carmine did not always act honorably with regard to PJJ. His testimony in York judicial submissions was not a reflection of the reality. Rather than hold any more resentment I had to confront the circumstance and Carmine himself. Like if ever I get to lightening myself on fire, I could not afford to fail and so the directness and transparency was at it should have been - severe. I believed Carmine would do the right thing and he did but at a level I was not expecting. Within less than 24 hours I was coaching a boys team at the Vaughan Soccer Club. Speaking to Carmine about Stigma and the circumstances when I was at York - I could see the penny dropping. As Michael Bourassa in a subsequent email to Carmine and I correctly stated, he was class. Michael was off the mark with the word criticism - something far less trivial - but an opportunity to address it in public knowing Mike Bourassa would deal with it in his stride. Within a few hours we had clarified the circumstance and Mike understood more profoundly the reason and purpose of confronting. I am proud to have known and been associated with both of them Great people and in Carmine 's case an excellent collegiate soccer coach and a very kind man. I do not regret recruiting him while I was at York. I do regret his getting caught up in my health circumstances not of his own doing but rather that of the York administration - highlighting the damage delivered has been so unnecessary and multi-layered.

Meanwhile confronting the Establishment class - Bob Rae, Mary Ormsby as examples - and there is simply silence or "sly soldiers" doing their bidding. It is what it is to be a coward.

What and who gives the right for lawyers, judges, politicians, and Canadian media to lie, negatively manipulate, discriminate, hide the truth and all with complete impunity? To mitigate/scapegoat their actions and behaviors under the guise as "politics" - "dirty tricks" - "freedom of the press?"

Meanwhile the rest of society are expected to abide by a different more stringent set of rules, mores and expectations?

Carmine Isacco, Michael Bourassa, Sharon Bearpark, Nicholas Wilson, Nick Gilbert, Tracy Vallaincourt, and Laura Aurdini's of the world I am proud to have known.

The WHY in the PJJ Story

Competing the Jigsaw

The answer to the Torture and Pain question. Number one is Isolation. Substance Use comes in at number 10 on the Richter Scale of Torture and Pain. It is still painful however. Like being tasered. It does however relieve the pain of isolation which is the trade-off. It is the cruelty of not resolving this matter. Added act of pure torture from all that has already preceded it. It is why I say to York University, Bob Rae and Mary Ormsby when you look in the mirror what stares back you is evil and psychological sickness.

This is my story in brief.

In the Hollywood film Cider House Rules Michael Caine plays the protagonist Doctor who lives and works in an isolated area of Maine. At the end of each day having committed so much to his work, patients and his staff the Doctor would retreat to the Upper floors of the hospital, lie down on a gurney. Put on a mask and suck ether. Relaxed he would eventually fall asleep. It became a learned behavior which he did most nights. Encapsulated into a nutshell it is the Paul J James story. Eventually while at York university I could not walk any more into an empty apartment without using the substance, which, while more potent than ether, it was also highly stigmatized, the accessing of which was a world in itself, cumbersome and stressful.

Answering the WHY question.

Why did Paul J James develop a psychological need to use crack cocaine? Answer. Painful Isolation. A lifetime of personal social disconnect. Lack of social connectivity. In part because of decisions to take the Path of Most Resistance in pursing a collegiate soccer coaching career. Vagabond. No roots. Financial sacrifice. Overwork. No emotional support from a partner to share the burden.

Contributing factors to development of personality. Excessive childhood stress. Nature from the get go was unassured and insecure but high energy and gregarious. The need to be socially connected for the personality make-up of PJ was essential. Not being connected was painful. My mother was the same. Some prisoners can handle solitary confinement. Others commit suicide or smash heads against the wall until they knock themselves out and/or eventually go insane.

It is what makes the past decade so atrocious. The ignorance to solving the PJJ story - so salvageable - was straight forward. PJ needed to coach. Partner in his life. It is why I say for Bob Rae and York University to have delayed any further than December 2017 is the behavior of malevolent people. In the words of Dr Bruce Alexander take care of the social cage first.

I cannot describe with any greater impact than to say the pain of all ten Torture stimulus thrown in with a kidney stone was immense. Indescribable.

First use of Crack Cocaine was an accident triggered by alcohol. The gateway drug. Alcohol gave me the courage to seek out the substance. The first 6 years were sporadic intermittent episodes of use. Cutting out alcohol was a good thing and was straight forward. Have never had a relationship with alcohol. Could never use much of the substance crack cocaine in any one setting. A physiological barrier in part because of the stress it imparted onto the body which was exhausting. Little use is why PJJ was and has always been able to function at a very high level. Even while on the street I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish with so much working against you.

In reality PJJ had "problematic use" as coined by Dr Carl Hart at Columbia University rather than the inappropriate rabbit hole "Drug Addict". By 2008 while at York University it was the lethal combination of working 7 days a week, 14 hours days, (50 unused vacation days), lack of sleep, poor diet, along with the uncertainty and ignorance as to what was happening - which was itself not good. Societal/organizational stigma was devastating on the negative effects of substance use itself; not seeking support early enough and York University and/or Canada Soccer not knowing what to do. What was obvious and what to do about the obvious. And York University elected to discriminate and the consequences of their actions are now clear for all to see.

When I finally sought professional support (Rehabs) is was inappropriate, ineffective and criminalized. Totally unacceptable. Down one rabbit hole after another. A set-up of total failure. A system which assassinates its citizens. The combination of the substance with its stigmatized impact on all and sundry has been catastrophic. None more so than the past three years.

The positives: being able to complete the Jigsaw; wonderful supporters; proud of getting through it all and still being alive - carving out an easier less cumbersome trail for others to travel when their day arrives.

Respectfully,

Paul J James